Four-star juco OT St. John commits to OU

Oklahoma has been in search for offensive tackles all fall, and the Sooners finally got one. Four-star junior college offensive tackle Josiah St. John (Athens, Texas/Trinity Valley) committed to OU on Wednesday, he announced on his Twitter page.

St. John, who was also considering Kansas, is ranked No. 6 in the ESPN JC 100 and is the No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation. St. John has pledged to OU, but he cannot sign with the Sooners until February. He will not be enrolling at OU in January, said Trinity Valley recruiting coordinator Will Reed.

He initially wasn't going to be doing anything Wednesday, but he tweeted in the morning he would make his commitment annoncement at night and came through on his promise.

OU made the offer to St. John in August even if he didn’t find out about it until October. He took an official visit to OU for the Notre Dame game in October, but the Jayhawks made a late push to try to sway him to Lawrence, Kan.

St. John made an official visit to KU two weeks ago, but OU coaches Bob Stoops and Bruce Kittle did what they could to make sure St. John would be a Sooner.

There has been a sense of panic among some OU fans with the Sooners have no pledges at the position. This single signing won’t erase all fears, but it’s a step in the right direction.

OU has hoping to land three offensive tackle commits for the class. Oddly enough, the Sooners had two commits at one point but lost four-star prospect Matt Beyer (San Antonio/Reagan) to an injury and three-star tackle Dalton Rodriguez (Tulsa, Okla./Union) flipped to Tulsa last week.

The Sooners are still in the running for three-star tackle Sean Dowling (Fallbrook, Calif./Union) and four-star prospect Aaron Cochran (Atwater, Calif./Buhach). But the Sooners can relax if they cannot land both of them. Getting St. John is the first step in what OU hopes is a strong close at the position.